3 Years, 10 Months later...

Here's the short version:

  • The rest of 2017-2018 is a blur.  
  • Left a 35 year career in public education halfway through 2019.
  • Gifted myself a custom built camper van to freely travel and be a full-time artist, open land advocate, and whatever else I wanted.
  • In February, 2020, we were planning a wedding and awaiting the arrival of a new family member - my first grandchild. 
  • Covid hit shortly after in full force.
  • Granddaughter arrived despite Covid restraints and world events, healthy and as adorable as can be, thank God and FaceTime. The new little family is thriving and safe.
  • Everything else turned to shit...
Like you, I am trying to figure out what 'new normal' looks like as every day unleashes old and new circumstances to make sense of and navigate through. Grieving and creating are simultaneous, daily rituals. My thread of sanity is that I am not in this alone but in good company - as sad and frightening and frustrating as it all can be - I remain hopeful, most of the time, as I look for ways to engage, participate, understand, move collectively towards healing... 

"Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things."  
~Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860, German philosopher)

I decided to continue this blog from when I first wrote back in 2011. It's been an interesting reread for me... A continuation of what I started almost 10 years ago here will easily merge with the new.

@projectmojavelight:  The remaining months of 2020 and on into 2021 will hover around a profound (to me) personal art project seeded 3 years ago. 120 individual art pieces sized 5"x5" each will be launched into my world (and perhaps yours) beginning Thanksgiving week, November 2020. 

Details on this interactive, personal art project and how it unfolds will be the subject in posts to come. If you are on Instagram, @projectmojavelight is where I will post visual briefs for the process as each panel is created. 

Moving forward...

For now, I would love to share with you an event that warms me to the depths of my core. A bright star to light the dark corners of our hearts. How can one not feel protective joy around new life?

Please meet my first grandchild - Adley Rose - here 2 months old, now 6 months and still full of sparkle and joy. A new generation of hope...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Promise yourself...

Image
What to you think about as you meander around the great outdoors? Do you meander in the great outdoors? If not, you absolutely should. Dr. Shay's orders. It's good for what ails you and reinforces all that doesn't.  I stumbled upon this poem somewhere on the 'net.  Something to turn over in your mind as you wander instead of the usual things that can strip us of peace and joy..... My favorite light at the end of the day - just before sunset..... 2012 ©Diana Shay Diehl / JTNP Promise Yourself... To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and pr...
Read more

Seeking Shelter (aka Querencia 2)

Image
I am having trouble picking up my camera lately. The spark of creativity is buried underneath a pallor of human unkindnesses. Can't watch the news or read the internet or walk through the staffroom without feeling personally assaulted in some way. The world outside is coming alive with wonderful spring light and peeps of color. The air is warm and alive with happy chirps and the whir of wings as life gets busy making more life. But I stare at it from inside. Unable to move. Tears spill over without warning. There's a sharpness to my speech. Breathing is shallow as it burns in my chest. I feel like a thousand elephants sit on top of me. The only solace is my walking buddy, Toby, who insists on his daily walk - which we do. Most of the time. And I always feel, a little, better. I turn off the tv. I limit the internet to communicating with friends and family on "good things",  researching fun lessons, or playing a mindless game (or 2) of (dare I say it), CandyCrush. Bu...
Read more

16 March 2012

Image
Feeling a little melancholy of late. Maybe I'm just tired - lacking B vitamins. Maybe I'm just missing time with my daughter and middle son. Or, it's not enough time in nature or with people who are kind, genuine, gentle... Too much 'stuff' to do on my plate and not enough of the stuff that makes my soul sing...  I spent all of today, sitting, listening to stuff I heard the last time I sat and listened. I don't sit well. I always feel like I'm on the outside of the fishbowl looking in at the place I spend the majority of my days - particularly when there are staff gatherings. Ah well, such is life. Sometimes we are swimming with the school....sometimes we are flip-flopping helplessly on the shore - hoping to be noticed and rescued.  Today, I think I needed to be rescued. "Mama said there'd be days like this There'd be days like this my mama said......." (First sung by the Shirelles, no? Or was it Sam Cooke?) I'm also kind of missi...
Read more